With Look and Talk, simply look at your Google Nest Hub Max from nearby, and Google Assistant will respond to your questions and commands. There's no need to say, "Hey Google."
Important: Look and Talk is available only on Nest Hub Max in English.
Look and Talk on Nest Hub Max | Google Assistant
Set up Look and Talk
Before you start
Look and Talk only works with certain settings enabled on your Nest Hub Max and Google Assistant. To set up Look and Talk, make sure:
- Nest Hub Max
- You’ve turned on Camera sensing, Voice Match, and Face Match.
- Google Assistant
- The selected language is English.
- Only one language is selected.
Tip: Face Match and Look and Talk work best when you put your Nest Hub Max in a place where it can easily recognize you.
Turn on Look and Talk
Important: These steps aren’t available on Google Pixel Tablet. You’ll need to follow these steps on another compatible mobile device.
- Open the Google Home app
- Tap Settings
Google Assistant
- Find the name of your Nest Hub Max.
- Turn on Look and Talk.
Use Look and Talk
Make sure you're within 5 feet (1.5 meters) of your Nest Hub Max. Look at the camera at the top of the screen and continue to look at it while you talk to Google.
When your Nest Hub Max recognizes your face, 4 dots will appear at the top left of the screen. The dots may move, change color, and change shape to let you know:
- What Google Assistant is doing.
- When to talk to Google.
- When to look away.
To cancel a Look and Talk activation, tap your Nest Hub Max's screen. If Google Assistant isn't processing what you said or responding to it, simply look away to cancel.
When you use Look and Talk, your Nest Hub Max won't play a start or end sound.
This feature isn’t available on your Nest Hub Max while:
- Media is playing, such as music or videos.
- Streaming a security camera.
- Using Meet.
- Guest Mode is on.
What the dots mean
| When the dots do this: | Google Assistant: | Tips |
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Has detected that you're within 5 feet (1.5 meters) and looking at the camera. | You can now ask a question or say a command without "Hey Google." |
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Has detected that you’re speaking and is active to listen for your question or command. |
Continue to look at the camera so Google Assistant knows to keep listening. If the dots return to gray, your Assistant thinks you weren't talking to Google. |
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Is processing what you said. | You can now look away. |
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Couldn't find a response to your question or command, but is ready to listen if you continue to look at the camera. | Say your question or command in a different way. |
Troubleshooting
If Google Assistant doesn’t respond when you use Look and Talk, try to:
How it works
Important: Nest Hub Max uses machine learning to ensure Look and Talk works as accurately as possible, but the technology isn't always perfect. Your device may not be able to tell the difference between you and, for example, a photograph of your face. If another member of your household looks very similar to you, the device may identify them as you.
Your Nest Hub Max uses camera sensing and video analysis to detect if you're looking at it to activate the Assistant. Your video is processed on-device and isn’t sent to Google servers.
When in standby mode, Google Assistant waits until it detects an activation. It won't send what you're saying to Google or anyone else.
Once Google Assistant detects an activation, it exits standby mode and sends your request to Google servers.
Google Assistant also uses Face Match and Voice Match so Look and Talk will work just for those who turn it on. If others want to use Look and Talk, they can set it up in their Home app or Assistant app settings.
You can turn this feature off at any time.
For more information about privacy controls, go to: